Soft Spot
by roktavor
Summary: Mondo skips his morning classes, and a concerned Ishimaru goes to look for him. What he finds is...well. Downright adorable, unfortunately. (or: Mondo and a puppy make for an easily swayed Ishimaru.)


**A/N:** I, uh, really needed some happy Mondo. That's my only excuse.

This is entirely g-rated, except for like one f-bomb and some other assorted swears.

* * *

This morning's classes have all gone spectacularly, Kiyotaka Ishimaru is pleased to say. There have been no rabble rousers, no excessive public displays of affection, no inappropriate jokes, and not one missed homework assignment across the board. Nobody fell asleep in class (although Hagakure cut that fairly close), and not so much as a single instance of running in the halls has disturbed the peaceful morning routine.

Indeed, it would be a downright perfect day so far, if not for one _tiny_ problem.

Mondo Oowada and Leon Kuwata have apparently decided that they do not need to attend class today. It would seem they have other, more pressing obligations to attend to – or at least, they had better, otherwise Kiyotaka will see to it that a suitable punishment is served.

As it is, he already considers it a great personal inconvenience that he is skipping his lunch to search the grounds for the two troublemakers.

Classes at Hope's Peak aren't mandatory, of course, but it is always much better to attend! Having taken it upon himself to enforce such beliefs, Kiyotaka had finally convinced the entirety of class 78th to start attending daily almost a month ago now. There are still some missed days here or there, but for the most part everyone shows up regularly.

This is why it's so concerning that anyone should be missing now. They've all made a promise, and Kiyotaka knows that while Leon is notoriously flippant, Mondo always keeps his promises. And so, it must truly be something major, if it is sufficient to keep Mondo away.

To say that Kiyotaka is worried would be an accurate assumption. Although, admittedly, he's no longer certain whether he's more worried about Mondo, or more worried about certain rules and standards being upheld. It may even be both – but regardless, he will search on, and deal with the fallout of whatever trouble crosses his path.

Speaking of trouble crossing his path, Kiyotaka turns a corner and there's Leon, storming down the hallway towards him. Hands fisted, shoulders tense, and with a downturned mouth on a flushed face, Leon certainly doesn't seem to be in a pleasant mood. He's not quite running, though, so Kiyotaka can't stop him for that. However, he _did_ skip classes, and he _does_ look to be in some sort of trouble.

"Kuwata!" Ishimaru says, once Leon is close enough that he won't have to shout too loudly. "I was disappointed to see that you were absent from class this morning. What seems to be the problem?"

Leon stops in his tracks, fired up blue eyes snapping their glare onto Kiyotaka. "'Problem'?" he spits, voice incredulous. "You wanna know what the problem is? The problem is Mondo, and his stupid soft spot for that stupid dog, and this _mud_!" On the last word, he gestures at his white shirt…or, well, the shirt is usually white, but right now there is so much dirt splattered on it that it will probably never be white again. Not even Leon's pristine jacket was saved, as it now bears suspiciously paw-shaped marks.

"Oh dear," Kiyotaka says, "that is a problem."

"You're tellin' me. This shit's name brand!" Leon goes to cross his arms, and then seems to think better of it. With a frustrated sound, he lets them fall to his sides and settles for clenching his hands into fists again.

Fingers tapping his chin, Kiyotaka looks over Leon's ruined clothes. "You say this was Mondo's doing?"

"Oh it's definitely his fault," Leon says with a scowl. "I just wanted to sleep in and eat a late breakfast, and maybe get some baseb – I mean, guitar practice in before lunch. But _he_ –"

"You should have been attending morning class!" Even now, Kiyotaka can't resist a lecture. This particular speech has been forming in his brain throughout his search, so it would be a shame if no one ever heard it. "It's important to –"

"Yeah, yeah I get it, I'm ruining my future or whatever." Leon's apparent awareness and yet blatant disregard of this fact is shocking, Kiyotaka must admit. "Just go yell at Mondo instead! I told ya, this's all his fault!"

"Be that as it may, _you_ still –"

" _And_ he's breaking the rules."

Kiyotaka sighs. He's used to people trying to slip away from his warnings, but these interruptions are just too much. "Kuwata –"

"Aw, c'mon Taka," Leon whines, his irritated expression melting into something that resembles desperation. "I've got a date tonight, and now I gotta shower _and_ find something to wear that isn't this!"

With the use of the nickname, Kiyotaka can feel himself giving in. He knows it's probably soft of him, but the familiarity he has with his classmates is a new experience that he enjoys. Also, he can admit that Leon really hasn't harmed anything except for himself today. (All the same, does it really take so long to get ready for a date…?)

Not only that, but Kiyotaka is quite curious about what, exactly, Mondo is up to at the moment. "All right," Kiyotaka acquiesces, albeit with a stern frown, "you may go on ahead. But please attend your afternoon classes!"

"Can't I just go tomorrow? I told you, I've got shit to do!"

"If you attend the rest of today's classes, I will make Oowada pay for your dry cleaning." Although he can be uptight about the rules, Kiyotaka is not afraid to bargain when necessary. True, he was planning to get Mondo to pay for Leon's laundry regardless (it's only fair, after all), but Leon doesn't need to know that….

Leon huffs, and makes a face like he's just tasted something particularly gross, but nonetheless he says, "Deal."

"Very good." Kiyotaka nods, frown flipping upside down. "Now would you kindly point me in the direction of Oowada?"

Wordlessly, Leon shoves one of his arms out to the side, pointing down the hall in the direction he had just come from. "Thattaway, in the bathroom." With that, he stomps off.

"Thank you!" Kiyotaka calls after him. The sound of angry muttering is all he gets in return, but as his mission to track down Mondo now has a clear path, he pays it no mind.

Speed-walking (but not running!) down the hallway, Kiyotaka finds himself in front of the men's bathroom door in no time. If he concentrates, he can hear the sound of a faucet running, as well as some splashing and the gruff rumble of Mondo's voice. Never one to waste time, he shoves open the door and marches inside.

He is greeted with a sight that might satisfy his curiosity and make all the pieces fit, but it still leaves him utterly dumbfounded.

Mondo stands in front of the sink, having half-turned when he heard the door open. His jacket is off, draped over the wall of the first bathroom stall, and his tank top is absolutely covered in mud. Bare, muscular arms aren't faring much better, smeared here and there with dirt – there's even a smudge of it on his cheek.

The most outlandish part of the scene, though, is the small, white dog that pokes its head out of the sink. Spotting Kiyotaka, it gives a friendly little yap.

"…Pets are not allowed on school grounds," is all Kiyotaka's mind can supply him with to say.

With a sheepish glance between Kiyotaka and the dog, Mondo says, "Tanaka has lots'a pets."

"Yes," Kiyotaka says, taking a few more steps into the room (still keeping a mindful distance so as not to get mud on his crisp, white uniform), "but that is because they are essential to developing his talents as a breeder, whereas your talent has no affiliation with animals."

Mondo scowls, looking like he very much resents that fact. "So?"

" _So_ ," Kiyotaka snaps the heels of his boots together as he straightens his posture into authoritative mode, "just what on Earth is going on here?!"

"…I'm givin' 'im a bath," Mondo explains, his voice blunt.

The dog seems to have gotten riled up by the tone of Kiyotaka's voice, though, and gets its paws up on the ledge of the sink, stretching its neck out and over as it looks for a way down. Mondo's attention is back on it just like that, his face going soft as he gently eases it back into the sink. "No you don't," he mutters, scratching at the dog's scruffy head, "you'll get hurt doin' stuff like that."

This whole thing is very…cute. Kiyotaka clears his throat, and both Mondo and the dog look towards him. "I can see that," he says, "but how did you find yourself in such a situation?"

"Me an' Leon found him runnin' around outside earlier, rollin' in the mud n'stuff. Took us a little while to catch 'im, he's a quick little guy." Mondo takes a break from his story to pet the dog some more, smiling down at it when it wags its tail at the attention. After a moment, Mondo looks back up to Kiyotaka, but doesn't stop petting the dog. "I couldn't leave him all dirty, so I brought him in to clean him up. Leon was s'posed to be helpin', but he left when he got a little mud on his shirt."

"I passed Kuwata in the hall on my way here," Kiyotaka says, "he had more than 'a little' mud on his shirt."

Mondo rolls his eyes. "He's a fuckin' baby."

"Language!" Kiyotaka snaps, almost completely on reflex. "And nevertheless, I've promised him that you will be paying his dry cleaning bill."

"You _what_?!"

"Why did you bring that dog into the school building?" Kiyotaka asks, ignoring Mondo's protests for now – he'll fend them off later, he's sure. "You could have just left it, I'm sure it would have found its way home."

Mondo looks at Kiyotaka like he's just suggested that he commit murder.

"Or you could have taken it to a shelter!" Kiyotaka quickly amends, hands up in a placating gesture.

"I couldn't do that," Mondo says, turning back around and twisting the faucet back on to continue rinsing the dog. "Shelters are depressin', and he's just a little puppy…."

The way Mondo's long, calloused fingers scrub the squirming, uncooperative dog is impressively gentle, and his face is more serene than Kiyotaka's ever seen it. This is a side of Mondo that he's unaccustomed to witnessing, and it's rather…charming.

"You know you can't keep him," Kiyotaka points out, and the words taste a little bitter on his tongue, "it would be against school policy."

"I know that!" Mondo snaps, his soft edges sharpening as he twists the knob so hard that it makes an ominous creaking sound as he turns off the water. The puppy jumps at his harsh tone, ears flattening against its head as it stares up at Mondo with wide brown eyes – and just like that, Mondo melts again. "Sorry, little Spot," he mutters, "I wasn't yellin' at you, you're a good boy."

"Little 'Spot'?" Kiyotaka asks, tilting his head. It certainly doesn't sound like a typical term of endearment, not even for a dog, which makes him curious. "Mondo, did you…name him? "

Mondo's entire posture goes rigid, and a blush floods his cheeks as his eyes dart off to the side. "I-it suits him, okay?! 'Cause he's all white 'cept for this one brown spot here," he gestures to the puppy's side, lifting it up out of the sink a little so Kiyotaka can see, "an' – an' he seems to like it, so…!"

"It is a fitting name!" Kiyotaka reassures him. That blush on Mondo's face is going to make him blush in turn if he isn't careful, and that gets all the more likely as Mondo offers him a little half smile in return for his comment. "B-but you should not get too attached," he mumbles, averting his gaze. He's doomed to forever be the bearer of unpleasant news.

"Tch. I can keep 'im if I'm sneaky enough," Mondo mumbles defiantly, the flush finally fading from his face.

Spot starts to shiver from being sopping wet, and Mondo puts a steadying hand on him as he reaches over with the other to grab a handful of paper towels. Very carefully, he pats Spot as dry as he can, the dog's fur bouncing back up in a scruffy coat.

Kiyotaka finds himself watching as if in a trance, but still finds it in him to respond. "But that would be against school –"

"Against school policy, I _know_." Mondo lifts Spot out of the sink at last, holding the puppy carefully under the front legs as he braces his back paws on his forearms. The dog is still dripping, despite Mondo's best efforts, and he casts his gaze around until he sees his jacket. "But you'd be the only one who knows, and the school'd only find out if ya snitched."

Setting Spot back down into the sink, Mondo points one finger at the puppy and says, "Stay," in a firm(ish) voice. He steps away to grab his jacket, and promptly steps back over to the sink as soon as he has it. "Good boy," he coos at Spot, and that little body wiggles as the puppy's tail wags at the praise, "you're so smart!"

…In all honesty, Kiyotaka has never had such a hard time keeping his resolve. "Rules are in place for a reason," he says, and even he can hear his own authoritative tone slipping. "I would be doing the right thing if I told!"

It doesn't seem like Mondo hears him, as he is far too busy wrapping an energetic dog up in his Crazy Diamond jacket. There's a wide grin on his face as he struggles, and he even lets out a few laughs. From the looks of it, he doesn't care at all that his jacket will be covered in wet dog hair. "C'mon, little guy," he goads, "I gotta get ya dry and warm before Taka over here kicks ya out into the cold."

"It's summer," Kiyotaka says automatically, and then belatedly realizes the implication. "Don't make me the bad guy, here!"

Now securely wrapped and held close to Mondo's chest, Spot lets out another happy little yip, squirming just one last little bit as he gets comfortable. Mondo looks completely enamored, all starry eyed and everything – especially so when a tiny tongue pops out to lick at his chin.

Oh no. That's…way too adorable. Looks like it's time for one last ditch attempt at compromise, before Kiyotaka gives up all pretense of resistance. "Can you at least let Spot live with Tanaka? That way, you still get to see him, _and_ we won't have to break any rules."

Mondo isn't given a chance to respond, because as if summoned by his name, the door to the bathroom bangs open to reveal Gundam Tanaka himself.

If Kiyotaka weren't so shocked, he would berate Gundam for unnecessary roughness with school property, but as it is he just stares. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Spot start to wiggle again, trying to turn around to look at the source of the disturbance. Mondo puts a hand on his head to settle him as Gundam swoops in.

"I see you have located the fearsome beast that wandered out of the depths of hell and into my realm!"

It only takes Kiyotaka a few seconds to decode that – he's always had great reading comprehension skills. "Ah, so this is your dog!" Part of him is pleased that the owner was so easy to find, but another (maybe slightly more insistent) part of him is sorry that Mondo looks so disappointed about it.

"This creature is not yet fully bound to me, no," Gundam says, sounding mildly regretful underneath his grandiose. As he speaks, the ends of his scarf seem to float up of their own accord, and he strikes a fearsome pose. "I have attempted many a tried and true technique, but some beings simply cannot be tamed! As such, they are doomed to wander this plane of existence, forevermore wreaking havoc upon the residencies of those that would seek to harbor them. This one in particular is worryingly troublesome, for it has enchanted its way past the many mystical barriers I constructed to keep it imprisoned…."

"…I see," Kiyotaka says. So this dog is too much trouble for even the Ultimate Breeder, is it? That doesn't sound right. "Are you perhaps overworking yourself? You do have a lot of animals in your care, after all."

"Do you doubt my abilities?!" Gundam seems to grow a few good centimeters, and eventually Kiyotaka realizes that this is because he's come even closer.

"No!" Kiyotaka backtracks, once again holding up his hands to ward off disaster. "I was concer –"

"Then it would be wise for you to think before you speak, mortal."

For the first time in a while, Kiyotaka is stunned to complete silence. He really should ask around for some advice so he can better deal with Gundam in the future. (Part of him wonders if Gundam is holding a grudge because of the few times Kiyotaka has had to ask him to reign in his hamsters, but he doesn't want to think so lowly of an upperclassman.)

There's a solid thirty seconds of silence, during which Gundam moves his attention from Kiyotaka to regard both Spot and Mondo with his fearsome, dual-colored gaze. Mondo's face is caught between confusion and frustration, and he seems to be mulling over whether or not he'll have to fight Gundam over a dog.

"Hm…" Apparently deep in thought, Gundam strides closer to Mondo, until there's hardly any space between them. This makes Mondo recoil a little, but Gundam seems altogether more interested in Spot, staring directly into round brown eyes. He holds his hand up in front of Spot's nose, and the dog sniffs it for a moment before giving it a few licks, all the while wiggling in excitement.

The corner of Gundam's mouth quirks up into something that might be a smile, but by the time Kiyotaka blinks, it's gone.

"I see," Gundam mutters to himself. He lowers his hand, clenching it into a fist that he rests on his hip. His eyes are still deeply examining Spot's, almost as if the two of them are locked in a silent conversation.

Mondo, meanwhile, is regarding him like one would regard an alien, or some other…otherworldly creature. "What are ya _doin'_?" he asks, arms readjusting to support Spot's renewed happy squirming.

"You should be honored, human," Gundam announces, instead of answering Mondo's very pointed question. His voice booms around the small, enclosed space of the bathroom. "It seems that this hellbeast has formed an attachment to you, and has chosen you as its guardian during its temporary stay in this realm!"

"Hah?" Mondo looks equal parts surprised and confused. "Oh, yeah – he does like me, I guess." Spot wriggles back towards him and reaches up to lick his chin again, and Mondo's face breaks out into that soft smile that he's reserved just for the dog.

By this point, Kiyotaka has prepared himself for what's coming. It's useless to try and stop it, and he's already busy thinking up the appeal he'll have to make to the headmaster in order to convince him that Mondo should be allowed to keep the dog. Resorting to dishonesty is a definite _no_ , so he may need some time to think up a good reason beyond 'Gundam said so and Mondo really loves dogs' but...

"Indeed, I relinquish the care of this being to your hands, so long as they prove capable!" Gundam steps back so he can perform a bizarre, ritualistic series of gestures.

…There it is.

No longer baffled by Gundam's outlandish behavior, Mondo is instead distracted by what he's saying. Eyes wide and hopeful, he looks downright ecstatic. "Y-you mean I can keep 'im?!"

Gundam dips his head in a graceful nod.

"Thanks, man!" Mondo's excitement must be tangible to Spot, because that little puppy is wiggling around again, stretching up to reach more of Mondo's face to lick. He doesn't mind at all, if the way he cuddles the bundle of jacket and dog closer is any indication. "Y'hear that, little Spot? Hear that, Taka?"

And then Mondo brings that bundle of jacket and dog closer to Kiyotaka, and it's useless to try and duck away from Spot's onslaught of kisses. "Not my face, please!" Kiyotaka politely requests.

Spot ignores him, much to Mondo's delight.

Kiyotaka feels an arm wrap around his back, and then Mondo is dragging him into a bizarre group hug with a dog – and now is a fine time for Kiyotaka to remember: "Mondo, you're covered in mud!"

"Who cares, I got a _puppy_!" Mondo certainly does not seem concerned about the state of Kiyotaka's uniform, which is quite rude, but he looks so _happy_ ….

"I shall leave you to your bonding!" The voice comes from over by the door, and somehow Gundam has moved away without making any noise. "Feel free to request the use of my powers should you find your own mortal skills lacking."

"B-but, the rules –" One weak, final attempt is made – mostly for the sake of keeping up appearances, and half-fueled by revenge against the tiny creature Kiyotaka is now gently patting away from his face.

"I will have a word with the one who presumes to lord over this school," Gundam assures on his way out.

Mondo, still overcome by glee, just laughs.

And Kiyotaka resigns himself the rest of the way with a smile.

x

"By the way, Mondo, I must insist that you pay for my own dry cleaning as well!"

" _What_?!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the ridiculous amount of fluff, but...Mondo...with a puppy...

Oh also while I was writing this I googled 'can you ride a motorcycle with your dog' and it was a life-changing experience that I highly recommend bc Mondo SO WOULD. There was a story about someone riding with their dog in their jacket and it was so cute I died.

Thanks for reading!


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